Rating of
3/4
Review: V/H/S/2
MikePA - wrote on 07/02/13
I thought last year's V/H/S was an experience of agony. I hated it rather thoroughly, and it bookmarked one of the rare occurrences in which I nearly fell asleep while watching a movie. I'll say right off the bat that V/H/S/2 is certainly better than the first film. It's cooler, it's funnier, it's more inventive, it's better paced, and above all it's scarier. Last year's mess was a 110+ minute long film containing five underwhelming short "horror" films that failed to raise a pulse. Its sequel, which consists of four longer but much more compelling horror shorts, is shorter and smoothly paced. The film is full of energy and the overall craftsmanship is quite impressive for its small budget.
Structurally, it's not much different than the first film. Two people go into a house for specific reasons I won't give away, they discover a bunch of V/H/S tapes and they watch them. And in between every segment, creepy things slowly unfold that could put the two people in danger.
Tape #1: This follows a man who just had some sort of eye replacement surgery, and a camera was implanted within his eye so that his new eye could be tested by the doctors. All hell breaks loose once he gets home, as he starts seeing dead people and meets this woman who shares the same experience (however, she hears dead people). This tape alone is much scarier and more creative than anything the first film had to offer. A chunk of this segment's scares relies on jump scares, but they're done well and, you know what, I got scared. It's probably the weakest segment in the film, but it's an honorable kick start to the better things to come.
Tape #2: This tape puts scares and terror aside and focuses more on gore and comedy. But damn, is it fun. As this guy is riding his bike through the woods, wearing a point-of-view helmet camera, a woman abruptly runs in front of him begging for help. He complies, but is soon curiously freaked out once she starts acting up and eventually puking black goo. In short, she turns into a zombie and the guy gets bitten. Then the cool stuff happen. You're watching this man walk around as a zombie from his point-of-view (the helmet cam), as he attacks his victims and does other various zombie stuff. With this short, you're in for a fun ride. It's super creative, bloody, and funny.
Tape #3: This is the longest, and best, tape in the film. I'd say it runs about 30-40 minutes. It's basically about this group of young people who bring along tons of camera equipment to interview some sort of Asian cult. Right from the get-go, these people (the cult) seem pretty strange. Their interview is ultimately a failing as things get stranger and stranger and bloodier and scarier. I want to see directors Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption) and Timo Tjahjanto ("L for Libido" in ABC's of Death) make this short into a feature film. Seriously. It's so weird but incredibly unique and well made, and what it comes down to in the end isn't only just flat-out outrageous fun, but also pretty effective being that the entire first 20 minutes of this segment was pure plot development. It's great to see just a short horror a film accomplish everything that a feature length horror film fails to. This is a great short full of very weird shit that's equally scary and enjoyable. It's similar to things like Hostel and climax in The Cabin in the Woods. Just when you thought they took it too far, they go even further, and it's absolutely terrific that they're able to do all of the things that they do with such a low budget. And the found footage element works perfectly.
Tape #4: This tape is inferior to the previous two tapes, but it's not a total letdown because it's still pretty clever and actually a little more intense than the other ones. This is simply just a group of four or five kids who sleep over (the older sister and boyfriend are home, too) and aliens attack and abduct them. That's it. It gets cool when they strap the camera to the dog's back. It has its share of scares and laughs, but the intensity is pretty high and so is the entertainment value.
V/H/S/2 is worlds better than the first one. At least I think it is. I'm usually not a fan of found-footage horror in general, but I was so wrapped up in these stories that I actually forgot that it was being used. It's great fun, and if you're a horror fan I highly recommend it.
3/4
